Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s World Cup Qualifying – Europe clash between Norway and Moldova, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Norway’s pursuit of World Cup football continues this Tuesday night when the Red, White and Blue welcome Moldova to the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.
The hosts have enjoyed a perfect start to their qualifying campaign, while their upcoming opponents are yet to pick up a single point.
Match preview
Norway’s absence from major tournaments in recent years has been somewhat profound, considering the vast amount of talent at their disposal.
Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard are obvious examples, but the team is also full of other top individuals who ply their trade across Europe’s top five leagues.
Bearing all that in mind, the fact that Norway have not qualified for a World Cup since 1998 is quite sensational. When it comes to the European Championships, the Scandinavian outfit have not done any better – last competing in the event in 2000.
There was hope that Norway’s new generation of stars could change the tide of history. However, nothing has really changed for the Red, White and Blue… not until now.
As things stand, Stale Solbakken’s men are top of their group after winning all four of their qualifying games. On top of that, they have also scored 13 goals across those matches, conceding twice in the process.
With those numbers in mind, Norway are starting to believe that 2026 could be the year which marks their return to the big time.
Moldova are not too familiar with the big time. In fact, the national side have never qualified for a major tournament, and that is unlikely to change on this occasion.
Tuesday’s visitors are already too far behind to qualify automatically, though even a second-place finish would require a footballing miracle.
Moldova have lost all four of their qualifying games, conceding 14 goals and scoring just two along the way – one of their poorest qualifying campaigns in recent times.
Serghei Clescenco’s men failed to score in three of their four qualifying matches, while their last game against Norway ended in a 5-0 home drubbing.
Moldova are just generally not very fond of Scandinavian opposition, having suffered their biggest ever defeat in that part of the world – losing 8-0 against Denmark just four years ago.
Norway World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
W W W W
Norway form (all competitions):
W W W W W W
Moldova World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
L L L L
Moldova form (all competitions):
D L L L L L
Team News
Norway kicked off the international break with a friendly encounter against Finland on Thursday night, fielding a number of their key players.
Haaland led the attack and scored the only goal of the game against their close rivals. The Manchester City man is expected to lead his team again, alongside captain Martin Odegaard.
Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup had a particularly good performance and is also expected to feature in the forward line.
Moldova, on the other hand, did not pick up any fresh injuries in their 4-0 home defeat to Israel last time out.
There are not many stand out players in the team, but Virgiliu Postolachi deserves a mention considering his sole goal across his last seven games for Moldova came away from home.
Norway possible starting lineup: Nyland; Wolfe, Ostigard, Ajer, Ryerson; Myhre, Berge, Odegaard; Schjelderup, Haaland, Bobb
Moldova possible starting lineup: Avram; Reabciuk, Dumbravanu, Craciun, Baboglo, Platica; Ionita, Rata, Caimacov; Bodisteanu, Postolachi
We say: Norway 5-0 Moldova
Norway have got their sights set on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, and Moldova are highly unlikely to get in their way.
The hosts have been scoring goals for fun, and they could go wild should Moldova fail to get their act together in defence.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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